Tens of thousands of visitors came to Akko’s historic Old City during this year’s Akko International Festival of Alternative Theatre, where hundreds of local and international artists transformed the city’s streets, public spaces and historic surroundings into a stage for contemporary performance.
The Ministry of Tourism organized a press tour of the festival, introducing international journalists to Akko’s broader tourism offering and to the combination of heritage, culture and contemporary visitor experiences developing across the city.
Over the past decade, the Ministry of Tourism has invested hundreds of millions of shekels in developing the Old City of Akko, including the Knights’ Halls and the harbor, which are world-class attractions. The investment forms part of the continued development of Akko’s tourism infrastructure and visitor experience, alongside the city’s cultural programming and historic assets.
The festival’s expanded focus on the public space brought street theater, circus, dance, acrobatics, music, interactive installations and visual performances throughout the Old City. Alongside original fringe productions by the Akko Theatre Center, the program included international artists and a broad range of performances designed for the city’s open spaces.
The result placed contemporary cultural production within one of Israel’s most historic urban settings, creating a direct meeting point between Akko’s built heritage and new artistic work.
For Akko, the festival also reflected a longer-term ambition articulated by the municipality: to continue developing and expanding the event while providing a platform for original local, national and international productions.
Ohad Shagav, Mayor of Akko, said: “The Municipality of Akko places great importance on ensuring the continued success of the Akko International Fringe Theatre Festival and on enriching its artistic program each year. The large audiences who attend the festival year after year strengthen our commitment to further developing and expanding it in the years ahead, while providing a platform for original local, national, and international productions.
“The outdoor events, held under the open sky in the heart of the city, create a unique cultural experience that brings together the old and the new, history and groundbreaking art. This experience represents Akko more than anything else: a city where we preserve its historic heritage while continuing to develop and innovate in all areas of life.”
The international component gave Akko an additional cultural dimension beyond its established historic and heritage sites, creating opportunities for artists from abroad to perform within the Old City while exposing new audiences to the city itself.
Among the performances presented this year were large-scale fire shows and the “Mermaid” installation, featuring an acrobatic contortionist performing inside a giant bowl of water and carrying out acrobatic and flexibility routines both in and out of the water.
The Ministry has also been involved in a separate visitor experience at the Crusader Citadel. A new audiovisual presentation, initiated by the Ministry of Tourism together with the Old Akko and Nazareth Development Company Ltd., began operating in Akko in recent months and uses video mapping, animation, lighting and original music to present periods from the city’s history.
Together with Akko’s established heritage attractions, including the Knights’ Halls, Templars’ Tunnel, Turkish Bath, Ramchal Synagogue and Akko Jewish Heritage Center, Old Port and market, these cultural initiatives broaden the ways in which visitors can experience the Old City beyond its historic monuments alone.
The festival was produced by the Municipality of Akko in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture.